


Target Practice

by LoveHatesYou



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angry Lavellan, Attempt at Humor, F/M, Post-Break Up, Sub Solas, Virgin Dread Wolf, agressive lavellan, mistreating Solas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-28 08:04:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7631803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveHatesYou/pseuds/LoveHatesYou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Solas were half as smart as he thought he was, he would know that it's probably not a good idea to accept an invitation from Lavellan to help her with target practice right after breaking up with her. [Timeline, soon after break-up, right before final battle]</p>
<p>Featured Inquisitor: <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/7602475">Aire Lavellan</a></p>
<p><b>Excerpt:</b><br/>"Surely you could choose something with a little bit more...coverage? It's freezing out here in Emprise de Lion. And does it have to be so many... colors? I really don't understand why Qunari armor has to leave so much exposed skin, it seems counter productive for <i>armor</i>." Solas was definitely complaining now, and Aire turned away so he wouldn't see her smirking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Do I really have to wear this...?"  
  
  
Solas was complaining, even if his tone suggested that he was merely asking a valid question. Aire knew him better than that, Solas was too proud to outright complain about anything but not quite proud enough to keep his displeasure to himself. Aire was proud as well, much too proud to prod him with questions or beg him to reconsider, but she still needed some kind of outlet for the frustration that threatened to boil over inside of her. That was why she didn't bring Cole along, didn't need him poking around in her heightened emotions right then, and making Solas wear Shokra-taar armor and an Orlesian hat was the very least aggressive thing that she could do in an attempt to ease the pain that was burning deep in her chest.  
  
  
"What are you talking about? It has the best armor rating, we need our healer to be well protected so he can protect us. It's really not becoming to be so vain." Aire responded, her tone dry.  
  
  
"Surely you could choose something with a little bit more...coverage? It's freezing out here in Emprise de Lion. and does it have to be so many...colors? I really don't understand why Qunari armor has to leave so much exposed skin, it seems counter productive for _armor_." Solas was definitely complaining now, and Aire turned away so he wouldn't see her smirking.  
  
  
"That's because fighting is sexy. Doesn't kicking some ass make your dick hard?" Ironbull decided to chime in.  
  
  
"No."  
  
  
"You're lying. Even your nipples are hard. We can all see them." Bull continued.  
  
  
"That's because it's fucking cold." Solas glared, his brow furrowed.  
  
  
Varric was snickering in the background, but he wasn't stupid enough to get in the middle of this particular banter.  
  
  
"That's enough, we have a job to do. Let's do it." The inquisitor ended the conversation.


	2. Chapter 2

  
It was a couple days later before Aire finally decided to bite the bullet and go see Solas in his study. Perhaps... if they could just speak for a little while and get to the truth of the matter, maybe they could move passed it. Even though she was angry, and part of her wanted to walk in and punch him square in the jaw, a bigger part of her just wanted things to be like they were before when they could flirt and talk and be happy for just a moment despite the possibility of the world ending. It was frustrating because she hadn't been distracted from her duties before, but she certainly was now. How was she supposed to get anything done when she couldn't do anything but stare at the door, waiting for Solas to come through? Which was exactly the reason she stood before him now, her willpower to stay away from him completely broken.  
  
"I'd like to discuss what happened before, Solas." Aire spoke through clinched teeth. Emotionally she was somewhere between wanting to grab him by the shoulders and shake him furiously until he gave up a real answer or pushing him against the wall to show him that she wouldn't be brushed aside so easily. She didn't like to openly show her emotions though, especially not anger. She took a great deal of pride in always being completely in control of herself and whatever situation she was thrown into. She was embarrassed by how well Solas had ruffled her usually perfect feathers.   
  
  
"I'm afraid that wouldn't be appropriate at this time, we must focus on what truly matters." Cold and calculated, somehow she'd expected such a response, but it wasn't the one she wanted.  
  
"You really don't let anyone see under that polite mask you wear, do you?"  
  
"You saw more than most, let me know if I can be of any more help in planning our final fight."  
  
Aire huffed, her hands balled up so tightly that her nails were digging painfully into the palms of her hands. _Corypheus will certainly win if I use up all my energy pounding your damn face into the floor_ , Aire thought while she glared at him in silence before storming back out of the room. That had been a complete waste of time and breath. How could he be so calm and collected? Maybe she'd been wrong in thinking that his feelings for her had been genuine.  
  
  
Normally, Aire would exit back to the main hall, or go upstairs, but this time she took the side door to Cullen's tower, refusing to look back as the door slammed behind her.  
  
  
"Inquisitor?" Cullen looked surprised to see her, understandable because she rarely went to see him. Cullen had a soft and somewhat clumsy way about him, especially when Aire was around. Perhaps if she hadn't been so wrapped up in her feelings for Solas she might have noticed the softer heart that pined after her. A relationship with Cullen would likely give her everything that she was looking for with all the love and happiness that she could possibly ask for. It wasn't what she wanted though, it wasn't _who_ she wanted.  
  
  
"I... nevermind, excuse me." Aire muttered before leaving, making her way instead to the tavern for some ale, the cure for everything.


	3. Chapter 3

There was a lot of excitement in the tavern that evening, everyone was in good spirits as they approached the final showdown. Ironbull and his Chargers were playing some kind of drinking game while another group were playing darts, there was also quite a bit of noise going on upstairs, likely Sera getting into trouble.  
  
  
  
"Playing darts against a couple of assassins doesn't seem really fair, does it?" Aire could hear Varric from where she sat at the bar. She looked over to see that he was with Cole and Heir.  
  
  
"These little knifes are for playing? What if the poison hurts one of the players?" Cole questioned, obviously confused about this 'game' that they were trying to teach him.  
  
  
"They aren't poisoned darts, they're just regular darts." Varric explained, but Cole still stared at the objects curiously.  
  
  
"This is a good way to get in a little extra target practice, something you could certainly use, Varric." Heir spoke up before throwing a dart at the target on the wall, hitting it dead center.  
  
  
"What? My aim is perfect, I'll have you know." Varric retorted to the minor insult. "Hey, Inquisitor, why sit all alone? Come show off your skills with us. Us rogues should spend more time together."  
  
  
Aire had hoped that she wouldn't get called out so quickly, but as their leader she couldn't just walk into a room without someone wanting her attention. Most of the time it was more than welcome, but for the time being she really just wanted to drink alone. She'd really come to the wrong place for that, she realized.  
  
  
"Maybe later. How about we plan for a little competition in the morning? Get together anyone who is interested and we'll see who really has the best aim." Aire smirked as she took a  couple bottles of wine from the bartender, taking her leave to her quarters to get drunk with a little more peace and quiet.  



	4. Chapter 4

Despite having stayed up half the night drinking every last drop of wine she had taken back to her room, Aire was up just a little after sunrise. Even drunk she couldn't sleep well, afraid of what she might see, or not see, in her dreams. A distraction would be a good thing, she decided. Something to get her mind off of _him_. But, when she walked through the main hall, she turned to look in the direction of the study that sat at the bottom of the rotunda, where she knew Solas would be, despite how early it was. Without even thinking about what she was doing, she went to him.  
  
  
"I need your help in preparing for the final battle against Corypheus." Aire stated.  
  
  
"How can I be of help, Inquisitor?" Solas replied, his mask still up, as she expected.  
  
  
If he wanted to play like that, then she could use that same cold, emotionless tone of voice as well. "Meet me out in the court yard in an hour."   
  
  
With that, Aire left Solas to whatever it was that he was doing before, she hadn't really paid much attention. She couldn't exactly say why she'd thought to ask Solas to join her for the competition that he didn't even know about, but it was done. Now all she could do was wait and see if he would actually show up, or if he would flake on her in this as well.  
  
  
Outside, Leliana and Heir were setting up different areas for the games for different aspects of the competition. "Good morning, Inquisitor." Leliana greeted her with a smile. "I'm so excited about this competition that you have arranged. My sources tell me that half of Skyhold is looking forward to the event."  
  
  
Aire tried not to cringe, she had not meant for this to turn into some huge event. "As do I, will you be participating Leliana? I've been anxious to see the infamous archer in action." Aire smirked, hiding away her fear that Solas would hear about what was going on today, and opt not to come in the end.  
  
  
"We shall see." Leliana replied.  
  
  
"I'm not really sure about playing games when we should be tracking down Corypheus before he goes into hiding..." Cullen sulked, the disapproval clear in his voice.  
  
  
"I didn't hear you complaining when we had tournaments for the warriors." Aire retorted.  
  
  
"That's different... it's training."  
  
  
"And this is how _we_ train. If you think it's just fun and games you're welcome to grab a bow and try your luck, commander." Aire replied and Cullen only grumbled in response. Aire laughed for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, forgetting about her pain, of only for a moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Aire and Solas are a lot alike personality wise(head-strong,arrogant,opinionated,stubborn), so they tend to butt-heads on a regular basis. I like my romance with a side of conflict. ^_^


End file.
